If Jesus is God, then who was he praying to on the cross
when he said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me"? (cf. Mark 15:34;
Matthew 27:46) Was he praying to himself? If so, was he complaining to himself about why
he had forsaken himself?

In this
rebuttal I will be directly responding to Sam Shamouns
supposed answer to the common question often put forward by Muslims which is  if
Jesus is God then to whom was he praying to on the cross, was he praying to himself?
That is the common question posed by Muslims, which includes why did Jesus even pray in
general, not just on the cross. Other than only responding to the question posed, Shamoun also launches his own attack on Islam, by making the claim
that Allah also prayed, and then asks the question to whom was Allah praying to. So not
only will I be refuting his answer to the question posed by Muslims, I will also refute
his own argument against Muslims and answer his question.

He wrote:

Answer:

The Holy Bible teaches that there are three distinct, yet inseparable Persons who exist
as the one true God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The three Persons of God,
because they are personally distinct, have loving communion and dialog amongst themselves.
Therefore, the Lord Jesus wasn't praying to himself on the
Cross, but was actually praying to the Person of the Father.

furthermore, the Holy Bible also teaches that Jesus became,
and forever will remain, a true human being. It is, therefore, not surprising that Christ
did what every God-fearing person is supposed to do, namely pray and worship God. Jesus is
man as God intends all men to be, namely a perfect servant who perfectly submits and
worships the true God.

Now, as to why the Lord cried out to the Father that he had been forsaken by him, this was due to Christ being our sin-bearer. According to the
Scriptures, the Lord Jesus came to die as our substitute in order to take upon himself the
judgment and wrath of God which came as a result of sins:

"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world!'" John 1:29

"God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.
He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished  he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present
time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."
Romans 3:25-26

"that God was reconciling the world to himself in
Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of
reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his
appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made
him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God." 2 Corinthians 5:19-21

"All who rely on observing the law are under a curse,
for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue TO DO everything written
in the Book of the Law.' Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because,
'The righteous will live by faith.' The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, 'The
man who DOES THESE THINGS will live by them.' Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law
by becoming a curse FOR US, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a
tree.' He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the
Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the
Spirit." Galatians 3:10-14

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die
to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit," 1
Peter 3:18

As we saw in response to the first
question, sin resulted in the loss of intimate communion with God and also brought on
physical death, where the soul departs from the body and the body returns to the dust from
which it originally came. God's wrath is poured out on sinners as a result of their
rebellion and wickedness, because of their failure to do what God's Law requires (cf.
Genesis 2:17, 3:19; Isaiah 59:1-2; Psalm 66:18; Habakkuk 1:13; Romans 1:18-32).

My response:

Let us first
start with his opening statements, which basically is the dogma of trinity. I hope Shamoun didnt confuse the reader with what he said, that there are three distinct yet inseparable persons who exist
as the one true God. Now these three persons are the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit,
and all these 3 beings make up the one and true God. That is the concept of the trinity,
three in one, no wonder why many are leaving Christianity and saying they left because it
made no sense!

Let us just
take a close look at it, just imagine it, up there in heaven, you have the father, then
you have the son Jesus, and then you have the holy spirit. All
these three beings up there in heaven together, all these three persons are separate from
each other. The father sits on his throne, the son Jesus sits on his throne, and the holy
spirit is hovering around, and all these three beings discuss issues with each other, they
talk with each other, create things with each other, but as Trinitarians such as Shamoun state that at the end of the day, all these three beings
equal one God, nice.

Lets look at
it again, a meeting table, in an office, the father and the son Jesus and the holy spirit
all there sitting together, having a meeting discussing world affairs and whats
going to be next for mankind, now there are THREE beings there all together, but no wait a
minute at the end of the day Trinitarians still maintain they worship one God, nice. Just
from those examples we can see how illogical the concept of trinity is, no matter how
people like Shamoun try to make sense of it,
it will always fail because common sense always prevails. Thats not the end of it
though, it gets even worse, as Shamoun himself stated they
have discussions with each other, which I gave an illustration for, such as them all
together up there in heaven or in an office meeting, but not only that, they also pray to
each other! It doesnt end there either; they even have higher ranks than each other!
The father is higher in rank than the son, the son also prays to the father! Yet all these
beings still equal one being and the one true eternal living God, nice.

I bet your confused, well my friends thats the
trinity for you, thats trinity without the arguments that Christians feed you by
using verses from their Bible to make sense of it. Thats basically what Shamoun said in his opening statements.

Now lets take
a look at the verses he used, basically Shamoun claims Jesus
cried out to the father because he was to be our sin-bearer, that he would be the one who
take Gods wrath in our place. Let us look at the verses he used to show Jesus was
the one who came to die for our sins.

John 1:29-

29 The next day John seeth
Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world

Lets also read the next
following passage john 1:30-30
This is he of whom I said,
After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was
before me.

It cant be made more clear
than it can now, we clearly see here Jesus the man, it is very possible that John and
everyone took Jesus as the messiah, a savior, but in no way God. It is quite clear the
Bible makes it clear that Jesus was a prophet, and he was a MAN.

Mat 21:11And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophetof Nazareth of Galilee.

So the Bible makes it clear Jesus is a
prophet, and he is a man. Any man who is a prophet defiantly takes away the sin of men,
because the prophet comes to save people, help people, and guide them with guidance given
to them from God. Just like Jesus who was given the gospel and was given guidance and help
from God, and was taught by God, and was given a lot of things from God, such as the power
to perform miracles and being able to make prophecies.

Jhn 5:30I can of mine own
self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not
mine own will,but the will of the Father which hath sent
me.

That verse sums up one of the main
characteristics of a prophet; basically Jesus is doing everything that his father has
commanded him to do, not what he wills. Lets look at more passages that confirm
Jesus is nothing more than a prophet.

Jhn 14:24He that loveth
me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear
is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

Once again we see Jesus in those verses
as nothing more than a prophet, he basically himself states
that everything he says, which is everything you hear are not his words, but the words of
the father (God) who sent him. Just like all prophets, what they taught and said was not
from themselves but from what God told and taught them to say, and the scriptures he gave
them. So once again we see those passages affirm that Jesus is a prophet, let us look at
some more.

Mat 7:28And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended
these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine

Mar 1:22And they were astonished at his doctrine:
for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

This seems like a wonderful doctrine
doesnt it, lets see what Jesus had to say about its
origin.

Jhn 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, Mydoctrine is not mine, but his that sent me

So now once again it is crystal clear that Jesus is a
prophet, the doctrine he is teaching which is basically the gospel, is not his, but it
belongs to the one who sent him who is God. Mark 1:22 even further proves he is a prophet,
because Jesus knew this doctrine well and was teaching it well, meaning God taught it to
him, and he sure did have some type of authority for he was a prophet. The same with Jesus
and his miracles, in the Bible Jesus also makes it clear the miracles he has shown and
have done are all from God.All these accounts
of Jesus in the Bible perfectly agree with what the Koran has to say.

003.045YUSUFALI: Behold! the angels said: "O
Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his
name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in
this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah;

003.046YUSUFALI: "He shall speak to the people in childhood and in
maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous

003.047YUSUFALI: She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man
hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth
what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!

003.048YUSUFALI: "And Allah will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and
the Gospel,

003.049YUSUFALI: "And (appoint him) a messenger to the Children of Israel,
(with this message): "'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make
for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes
a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the
dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your
houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe;

These verses from the Koran make it
clear that Allah taught Jesus the gospel, and that he appointed him as a prophet for the
children of Israel, and that Allah gave him the power to perform miracles. It
perfectly agrees with the Bible on the true account of Jesus, that he was a prophet, and
that the doctrine he had was not his, but he knew it well, meaning he was taught by
someone and that the miracles he performed were all due to the fact that God allowed him
to, giving him the power.

So to sum it up we have seen from the
Bible that:

A- Jesus was a man, and he was a
prophet

B- Everything he said and did was for
God, not his own will, everything he said was from God.

C- His doctrine the Gospel was from
God, and God taught him the doctrine.

So Jesus without a doubt is a prophet, and a man. That is exactly why he prayed to God,
and is exactly why he would scream for God if he indeed were being crucified on the cross.
Let us look at the other verses Shamoun posted.

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in
his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had
left the sins committed beforehand unpunished  he did it to demonstrate his justice
at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in
Jesus." Romans 3:25-26

Once again Shamoun
using verses to show that Jesus was presented by God as a sacrifice, to die for our sins.
Interesting to see that the verse also says that God did this to demonstrate his justice,
where is the justice? Christians claim Jesus was sinless, so where is the justice of
putting an innocent man to death for the sins of others, logically that is not justice!
Furthermore this leaves to further injustice, since Jesus died for your sins, he took all
your sins away and you will be guaranteed heaven, as long as you believe, so since your
sins are paid for you can go do whatever you want such as kill, steal and do whatever you
feel like.

If Christians argue otherwise then the
entire crucifixion saga is not necessary, and then there is a huge fundamental problem. If
Jesus died for your sins and you still get in trouble for committing adultery and killing
even though you believe that Jesus died for your sins, then that would make no sense for
Jesus dying for your sins. However so option B is that you will not get in trouble for
killing and committing adultery, Ill let the Christians choose which one they want.

The rest of what Shamoun
posted is basically the same thing, Jesus came to die for our sins, however no answer in
specific as to why Jesus even prayed, not just on the cross.

I provided the answer, the Bible makes
it clear Jesus was a prophet, a man, you cant have it both
ways. Jesus cant be a prophet and then at the same time God. Shamouns
supposed small answer in his opening statement doesnt cut it, this is what he
exactly said: furthermore, the Holy Bible also teaches that Jesus became, and
forever will remain, a true human being. It is, therefore, not surprising that Christ did
what every God-fearing person is supposed to do, namely pray and worship God

That doesnt answer the question,
God does not pray, God is not a man (Numbers 23:19), God doesnt die, which you did not even address in your
last article.

He wrote:

Jesus' cry and the darkness which came upon the land at noon was an indication that God
was punishing Christ in our place, that Jesus suffered the loss of God's intimate, loving
fellowship in place of sinners:

"From the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (three
o'clock) darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour (three o'clock)
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? 
which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:45-46

Contrast this with the following OT citations:

"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may
be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.' So Moses stretched out his
hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egyptthree days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for
three days, but all the people of Israelhad light where they lived.'"
Exodus 10:21-23

"'And on that day,' declares the Lord GOD, 'I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and
all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness
on every head; I will make it like the mourning for AN ONLY SON and the end of it
like a bitter day.'" Amos 8:9-10

Thus, Christ, because he is the sinners' substitute who came to die in the place of
God's people, suffered the just punishment that all sinners deserve.

Fourthly, the Scriptures say that Jesus is also the believers' High Priest who presents
his sacrifice on our behalf before the Father, making intercession for us:

"Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the
Apostle and High Priest of our confession;" Hebrews 3:1

"For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a
tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. And this is
clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek,
who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to
the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of Him, 'YOU ARE A PRIEST
FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.'" Hebrews 7:14-17

"but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues
forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever
those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for
them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled,
separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those
high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the
people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints
men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law,
appoints a Son, made perfect forever." Hebrews 7:24-28

Related to this point, the Holy Bible states that Jesus was crucified at the third hour
where he then offered a prayer on behalf of those who were crucifying him and dividing his
garments amongst themselves:

"It was the third hour (nine o'clock) when they crucified him." Mark 15:25

"When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him,
along with the criminals  one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said,
'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' And they divided up
his clothes by casting lots." Luke 23:33-34

This indicates that Jesus was actually praying to God in the very words of this
particular Psalm. What makes this so astonishing is that both the third and ninth hours
were the times for Temple prayers and the daily sacrifices!

"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a
sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where
they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to
rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in
other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem Godfearing Jews from every nation under heaven... Then Peter stood
up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: 'Fellow Jews and all of you
who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These
men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!'"
Acts 2:1-5, 14-15

My response:

I must say that this is quite funny to read, because Shamoun has brushed aside the most important aspect of the question,
WHY WOULD JESUS EVEN PRAY? Shamouns pathetic attempt of
an answer in his opening statement doesnt cut it, it just makes us Muslim believe
that Jesus was no more than a prophet even more. Shamoun gave
a few OT passages and tries to link it with Jesus, which is his own interpretation, so no
point there.

Shamoun then makes the
argument that Christ is the high priest, the priest for sacrifice, thats all nice
but once again it doesnt address the importance of why would Jesus pray if he was
God.

Let us even take a look at it, Jesus is God, the father
is also God, so we have Gods praying to each other now? No sorry you have one person in
the trinity praying to another person but both these persons make the one God. Nice.

Shamoun then starts talking
about the timing, mentioning that all this took place during the prayer hours, thats
all fine, but then again why is Jesus praying? God does not pray,
that is what many Trinitarians cant get through their heads, as much as they try to
make sense of it. As I proved earlier, Jesus was no more than a prophet, the Bible
confirms it, and you cant have it both ways, thats why Jesus was praying! The
verses Shamoun keeps posting are not even relevant, because we
as Muslims and Unitarian Christians do not believe that a person who prays is God.

However lets turn to Hebrews 5:7-8:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had
offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able
to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience
by the things which he suffered

We see very clearly in those passages
that Jesus cried and prayed to be saved, and eventually he was. Its very interesting
to see not only was Jesus saved, but the fact that he was crying and praying and wanting
to be saved shows such a side of Jesus that completely shows an exact opposite
characteristic of God. So Jesus according to the Bible was saved, and since its obvious throughout the Bible and especially in Hebrews 5:7 that
Jesus could not even save himself, then this also ultimately proves that Jesus is not God.
Now Christians have to double check if Jesus did actually die, and if he was willing to
actually lay down his life, because we saw contradictory stories, Hebrews shows that he
lives, what Shamoun is showing is that he dies.

He wrote:

Peter's statement about it being nine in the morning is significant as
we will see shortly.

"One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the
time of prayer  at three in the afternoon." Acts 3:1

"One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision.
He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, 'Cornelius!' ... Cornelius answered: 'Four days ago I was in my house praying
at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes
stood before me.'" Acts 10:3, 30

And about the ninth hour ...
Or three o'clock in the
afternoon, which was about the time of the slaying and offering of the daily sacrifice,
which was an eminent type of Christ. The Jews say F9,
that

"every day
the daily sacrifice was slain at eight and a half, and was offered up at nine and a
half:"

about which time
also the passover was killed, which was another type of
Christ; and as they say F11,
"was offered first, and then the daily sacrifice." Though the account they
elsewhere F12
give of these things, is this;

"the daily sacrifice was slain at
eight and a half, and was offered up at nine and a half; (that is, on all the common days
of the year;) on the evenings of the passover, it was slain at
seven and a half, and offered at eight and a half, whether on a common day, or on a sabbath day: the passover eve, that
happened to be on the sabbath eve, it was slain at six and a
half, and offered at seven and a half, and the passover after
it." ...

seeing it is but the third hour of the day;
or nine of the clock in the morning: for till this time it was not usual with the Jews, if
men of any sobriety or religion, so much as to taste anything: the rules are these F8,

"it is
forbidden a man to taste anything, or do any work after break of day, until he has
prayed the morning prayer."

Now

"the
morning prayer, the precept concerning it is, that a man should begin to pray as
soon as the sun shines out; and its time is until the end of the fourth hour, which is
the third part of the day F9."

So that a man might not taste anything,
either of eatables or drinkables, until the fourth hour, or ten o'clock in the
morning: hence it is said F11, that

"after
they offered the daily sacrifice they ate bread, (NyevebraNmzb), 'at the time of four
hours':"

or on the fourth hour, and sooner than
this it was not lawful to eat, even ever so little; and whoever did, was not reckoned fit
to be conversed with.

"Says R. Isaac F12, whoever eats a green or herb before
the fourth hour, it is forbidden to converse with him; and the same says, it is unlawful
to eat a raw herb before the fourth hour. Amemar, and Mar Zutra, and Rab Ashe were sitting, and
they brought before them a raw herb before the fourth hour. Amemar
and Rab Ashe ate, and Mar Zutra
did not eat: they said to him, what is thy meaning? (he replied) that R. Isaac said,
whoever eats a herb before the fourth hour, it is forbidden to
converse with him."

The time for taking food by persons of
different characters, is thus expressed by them:

"the
first hour is the time of eating for the Lydians, the second
for thieves, the third for heirs, the fourth for labourers,
the fifth for every man; is it not so? Saith R. Papa, the
fourth is the time of repast for every man; but (the truth is) the fourth is the time of
eating for every man, the fifth for labourers, and the sixth
for the disciples of the wise men F13."

"at the fourth hour, go
into a cook's shop, (or tavern,) if thou seest a man drinking
wine, and holding the cup in his hands, and slumbering, inquire about him, if he is one of
the wise doctors..."

The "gloss" upon it is,

"at the
fourth hour, for that is the time of eating, when all go into the shops (or taverns) to
eat."

Now whereas they that are drunken are
drunken in the night, and not in the day, and much less so soon in the day, when it was
not usual, at least with religious men, to have tasted anything by this time; and whereas
the apostles, and their company, were sober and religious men, and had never done thing to
forfeit their character, it was unreasonable to suppose anything of this kind in them.

Thus, it is not a coincidence that the Lord Jesus, who as our High
Priest, prayed during the very hours that the Jews prayed in the Temple, right at the time when the
sacrifices were offered!

My response:

Basically nothing important posted by Shamoun,
not a real issue if his prayers were made during the prayer times and the time of
sacrifices. At the end of the day Jesus prayed, God does not pray. Think carefully about
it, would you worship the one Jesus prayed to, or the one who is praying?I have proven from the Bible that Jesus was a
prophet, a man, and that Hebrews 5:7-8 proves that Jesus was scared and prayed to God to
be saved. Why would he be scared if it
was his will to die? Why did he want to back out and be saved? Was he saying one thing,
which his heart did not want?

Case closed, Shamoun had no answer once again, if Jesus was God whywould he pray? Muslims and most
probably Unitarian Christians will still be asking that question. Now lets
refute and ANSWER him on whom does Allah pray to?

He wrote:

Question for Muslims:

The Quran says that Allah prays:

Upon them shall be prayers (salawatun)
from their Lord and mercy, and they are the rightly directed. S. 2:157

He it is who sends PRAYERS on you (Arabic- yusalliialaykum), as do His angels
... S. 33:43

Allah and His angels PRAY for the Prophet (Arabic- yasalluunaalan-Nabiyy): O ye that
believe PRAY for him (salluu `alayhi),
and salute him with all respect. S. 33:56

Allah prays for believers and Muhammad, as Muhammad prays for
believers:

Take alms of their wealth, wherewith thou mayst
purify them and mayst make them grow, and pray for them (wasallialayhim). Lo! thy prayer (salataka) is an assuagement for them. Allah is Hearer,
Knower. S. 9:103 Pickthall

Since these verses all clearly say that Allah literally prays, and
since prayer requires an object, we must therefore ask to whom does Allah pray? Muslims claim that Allah is a singular entity, there being no
plurality of persons within his Being, which means that Allah cannot be praying to
himself. Or is he? Maybe Allah does in fact pray to himself.

Some Muslims try to redefine words by saying that prayer here doesn't
literally mean prayer, but actually means blessings, that Allah is sending down his
blessings. The problem with this explanation is that there is an Arabic word for blessing,
baraka, which does not
appear in the above citations. Rather, the passages use the words salawatun,
yusallii, yasalluuna
and salluu, all of which are derivatives of the word salah.

Muslim writer MoizAmjad
of "Understanding Islam" provides the lexical meaning of salah
in response to a reader's question:

Ibn Al-Atheer
in his highly acknowledged dictionary of the Arabic language, 'Al-NihaayahfiGhareeb al-Athar'
has explained "Sala'h" as follows:

'Al-Sala'h' and 'Al-Salawaat': used for a particular kind of worship. Its
literal origin is supplication (prayer). Sometimes, 'Sala'h'
is referred to by mentioning any one or more of its parts. It is also said that the
literal origin of the word is 'to glorify' and the particular worship is called 'Sala'h', because it entails the glorification of the Lord.
(Source; bold emphasis ours)

On this same site, a question was asked regarding the literal meaning
of the word salah to which the writer responded:

Title:
The Meaning of the Word "Salah"

Question:

What is the English word that we can use for the word "Salah" ? Is it true that the word
"Prayer" is not even close to the meaning of the word "Salah"?

Please explain.....

Answer:

Salah (????) literally means
one's calling upon one's God (in a respectful and humble way). It is very much the
same as the word Du'a (???).

In the Oxford dictionary we read:

"Prayer: a request for help or expression of thanks addressed to
God or another deity".

I think the above can be seen as a reasonable and literal translation
of the word Salah. One might argue that the content of Salah is not excluded to requesting for help or expression of
thanks and that other things like uttering God's attributes,
glorifying God, etc...can also be included in the meaning of
the word Salah. I am, however, sure that this is also
true in the case of the word "prayer." (Source; bold and underline emphasis ours)

Noted Muslim commentator, IbnKathir, defines the word as:

The Meaning of Salah

In the Arabic language, the basic meaning of Salahis supplication. In religious terminology, Salah is
used to refer to the acts of bowing and prostration, the remaining specified acts
associated with it, specified at certain times, with those known conditions, and the
characteristics, and requirements that are well-known about it. (Source;
underline emphasis ours)

"The tribe of Israel said to Moses: Does your God pray? God called upon him
and said: Yes, I do pray, and my angels [pray] upon my prophets, and Allah
then sent down this verse: Allah and His angels pray ..." [quoted by IbnKatheer on Surat Al-Ahzaab 33:56; translated from the online Arabic edition]

Another Muslim scholar made the following comments about surah 33:56 and Allah praying:

Allah makes the merit of His Prophet clear by first praying blessing
on Himself, and then by the prayer of the angels, and then by commanding His slaves to
pray blessing and peace on him as well. Abu BakribnFurak related that one of the 'ulama interpreted the words of the Prophet, "The coolness
of my eye is in the prayer," as meaning Allah's prayer, that of the angels and
that of his community in response to Allah's command until the Day of Rising. The prayer
of angels and men is supplication for him and that of Allah is mercy.

It is said that "they pray" means they invoke blessing (baraka). However, when the Prophet
taught people the prayer on himself, he made a distinction
between the word salat (prayer) and baraka (blessing). We will return to the meaning of the
prayer on him later. (Muhammad Messenger of Allah (Ash-Shifa
of Qadi 'Iyad), Qadi 'IyadMusa
al-Yahsubi, translated by AishaAbdarrahmanBewley [Madinah
Press, Inverness, Scotland, U.K. 1991; third reprint, paperback], p. 25; bold emphasis
ours)

And:

The Prophet made a distinction between salat
(prayer) and baraka
(blessing) in the hadith in which he taught about
making the prayer on him. This indicates that they have two separate meanings.
(Ibid., p. 250; bold emphasis ours)

Perhaps there is a Muslim out there who can explain to us how can
Allah pray if he is a singularity-within-unity Deity?

My response:

There are several Muslims who could
respond to that, it is just Shamouns misunderstanding of
what is meant, and I would like to thank him for teaching us Arabic.

First let us make it clear, almost
every Muslim and I say almost because I dont want to be arrogant, but almost every
Muslim would know that those verses actually mean Allah is sending blessings and his
mercy, contrary to the Arabic meanings for each, which Shamoun
presented in order to show a distinction between sending blessings and prayers.

Do you want proof? Sure, before I show
the proof I must say Shamoun is indeed a deceiver, he quotes
what IbnKatheer had to say about Salah, and used what IbnAbbas said about verse 33:56 quoted by IbnKatheer. I must ask Shamoun why did he not post the tafsir of IbnKatheer on Surah
33 Al-Azhab. The reason he did no post it is because it
basically crushes his argument on Allah praying, it is common sense when you quote someone, you also quote what they have to say on the same issue you
are talking about, why didnt Shamoun do so? Ill
leave that for him to answer. Anyway lets see what IbnKatheer said

The Meaning of Salah

Allah's Salah
means that He praises His servant before the angels, as Al-Bukhari
recorded from Abu Al-`Aliyah. This was recorded by Abu Ja`farAr-Razi
from Ar-Rabi` bin Anas from Anas. Others said: "Allah's Salah
means mercy.'' It may be said that there is no contradiction between these two views. And
Allah knows best. Salah from the angels means their
supplication and seeking forgiveness for people, as Allah says:

(Those who bear the Throne and those around it glorify the praises of their Lord, and
believe in Him, and ask forgiveness for those who believe (saying): "Our Lord! You
comprehend all things in mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow Your way, and save them from the torment of the blazing Fire! Our
Lord! And make them enter the `AdnGarden which you have
promised them -- and to the righteous among their fathers, their wives, and their
offspring! Verily, You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. And
save them from the sins.'') (40:7-9) t

So as we see it is crystal clear what
is meant by the salah of Allah, IbnKatheer makes it crystal clear, Allah's
Salahmeans that He praises His servant before the angels

So now we know exactly why missionary
Sam Shamoun did not post that, because it would have ruined
his whole argument and he did not expect anyone to go and do research and discover the
truth. He expected everyone to just simply take his word for it.So lets look at what IbnAbbas said again about Allah
praying:

The tribe of Israel said to Moses: Does your God pray? God called upon him
and said: Yes, I do pray, and my angels [pray] upon my prophets, and Allah
then sent down this verse: Allah and His angels pray ..." [quoted by IbnKatheer on Surat Al-Ahzaab 33:56; translated from the online Arabic edition]

Shamoun
posted that, sure IbnAbbas said
that Allah prays, but we have established what is meant by Allah praying, it
is him simply praising his servant before the angels, sending his mercy and blessing, as IbnKatheer stated. So when it is said
Allah prays, it does not mean the same praying or salah as us
humans do, or the same way Jesus prayed to God, which is in the sense to worship, to
prostrate, and glorify and ask for forgiveness and help. SO THERE IS THE ANSWER TO SAM
SHAMOUN, how about Sam answering us for once. The question remains 
IF JESUS IS GOD, THEN TO WHOM WAS HE PRAYING, WAS HE PRAYING TO HIMSELF?